


Invictus

by nekosmuse



Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Developing Relationship, F/M, Happy Ending, M/M, Rescue Missions, Reunions, The Force Ships It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-09
Updated: 2016-12-09
Packaged: 2018-09-07 11:18:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8798833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nekosmuse/pseuds/nekosmuse
Summary: The Force works in mysterious ways, which is why she can't dismiss her dreams, Han's presence too insistent for that.Aka the one where Leia can't stop dreaming of Han, so she sends Poe out on a mission to find him. Finn gets dragged along for the ride. Post TFA. Canon compliant. Leia/Finn povs.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Onthecyberseas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onthecyberseas/gifts).



> While this story focuses mainly on The Force Awakens, additional references encompass the Star Wars canon and Extended Universe, most noteably a reference taken from _The Courtship of Princess Leia_. Additional liberties have been taken.
> 
> Title is in reference to the poem of the same name by William Henley.
> 
> Out of the night that covers me,  
> Black as the pit from pole to pole,  
> I thank whatever gods may be  
> For my unconquerable soul.
> 
> In the fell clutch of circumstance  
> I have not winced nor cried aloud.  
> Under the bludgeoning of chance  
> My head is bloody, but unbowed.
> 
> Beyond this place of wrath and tears  
> Looms but the Horror of the shade,  
> And yet the menace of the years  
> Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.
> 
> It matters not how strait the gate,  
> How charged with punishments the scroll,  
> I am the master of my fate:  
> I am the captain of my soul

~*~

0300

There isn't room in her life for grief. Wives mourn. Mothers mourn. But not generals, and Leia's been the latter far longer than she's been any of the former. She's leading a rebellion, for kriff's sake, the fate of the universe hanging in the balance. She doesn't have time for could-haves or would-haves or should-have-beens.

Not that any of that stops her from dreaming about the scruffy nerf-hearder, his damned grinning face showing up every time she closes her eyes.

 _Forgetting something?_ he'll ask.

 _I'm waiting_ , he'll say.

All the while staring at her with those incorrigible eyes, the same eyes she fell in love with, long before she knew the consequences; long before she cared about anything outside of her cause.

"I don't care if you are still alive," Leia says to the darkened room. "You got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out."

She's not a rescue party. Just because her younger self made it a habit of saving his ass doesn't mean she's obliged to do it now. Besides, they're just dreams, manifestations of grief she hasn't had time to process. They're certainly not visions, Leia not strong enough in the Force for that. And even if she was there's nothing she can do about it, Leia not about to abandon her duties on the off chance her dreams have meaning. Alive or dead, Han's on his own.

 _Serves him right_ , she thinks, and then slips out of bed anyway, because she sure as stars can't risk being wrong. If she does find him--if he is alive--she's going to kick his ass from here to Naboo. Teach him to die on her, the stupid laserbrain.

Han would no doubt love it if she showed up personally, but she's got an army to command, Leia's too far removed from the recklessness of youth for that, so she navigates the base's empty halls until she reaches the pilot's quarters. Leia hesitates only briefly before knocking on one of the doors.

"General," Dameron says when he answers. It's late enough he should be asleep, but then she's not exactly in a position to comment, so...

"Bad time?" she still asks, because it's not like there's anyone on base who doesn't know about him and Finn. The exception possibly being him and Finn, but then love is stupid as well as blind.

"No, no, come in," he says, gesturing her inside.

It's not a big room--there's certainly nowhere someone could hide--but she still takes her time looking, taking in the unmade bunk, the schematics strewn across the desk. No Finn, Leia oddly disappointed. Clearly youth is wasted on the wrong people.

"Are you looking for something?" Poe asks. He's closed the door and has come to stand beside her, honest curiosity playing over his features. _Oh, honey_ , she wants to say. Instead she smiles.

"Someone, actually, but that's not why I'm here."

It's somewhat gratifying to watch his eyes widen--maybe he's not so oblivious after all--though it's his stammering that does her in.

"I don't know what you've heard..."

Leia stops him with a hand on his elbow. "Not why I'm here."

He's her best pilot for a reason, and that reason extends well beyond his skills in the sky. He's intuitive. He knows when to speak, but more importantly, he knows when to listen. And she trusts him. And she trusts that he trusts her, which out of everything is probably the reason she's here.

"I need you to take a shuttle and fly out to the Starkiller debris field."

She knows he won't question her, but that doesn't stop his eyebrows from lifting, Poe looking about as startled as he did when he thought she was asking about Finn. Leia gives him a minute. He recovers quickly.

"Can I ask what I'm looking for?" he asks.

Leia's tempted to tell him no. He'll still go, Poe Dameron a soldier through and through. But like she said, she trusts him, so...

"You're looking for my husband."

If she shocked him before, he's gobsmacked now, his mouth falling open, eyes so wide she's starting to get a little concerned. This time she gives him a full minute and a half.

"You want me to take a shuttle to the Starkiller debris field, and find your husband?"

"Yes," she says without hesitation. Poe blinks.

"Dead or alive," she clarifies, watching his features grow dark. She doesn't tell him about the dream. Better to let him think he's retrieving a body.

"Of course," he says, clearly making the wrong assumption. Leia wishes he wasn't right to do so.

"You'll need a copilot," she tells him. _A gunner in case the First Order are still around; someone to help you haul his sorry ass onto the ship_ , she doesn't say. Poe merely nods.

"I can ask..."

Leia cuts him off.

"I trust you and Finn will be successful in your mission," she says.

Poe, at least, has the grace to blush. He ducks his head, looking about as young as Han had when they first met, all false bravado and underlying insecurity. Men were the same the galaxy over.

"Yes, ma'am," he says after he's recovered.

"Let me know when you find him," she says, confident he can pull this off. She doesn't wait for a reply, offering only a brief nod before showing herself from the room. Dream or Force vision, surely she's done enough now to warrant a good night's sleep. Time, she supposes, will tell.

~*~

 

0700

Poe doesn't tell him where they're going. At least, not right away. Finn's okay with that--he trusts Poe, and besides, he's been itching for something to do for a while--it's just...

"Can I least have an idea of what I should be watching out for?" Finn asks, following Poe into the shuttle. It's a small class B type with limited range weapons and enough room for them and maybe two other people.

Poe doesn't answer right away. Instead he waits until the ramp closes behind them, Poe oddly quiet as he turns to meet Finn's gaze.

"You wanna sit?" he asks, gesturing to one of the benches along the shuttle wall. Concerned now, Finn shakes his head.

"Out with it," he says, not exactly used to Poe keeping secrets. Poe sighs, resigned. He claims one of the seats.

"This is a retrieval mission. We're going out to the Starkiller debris field."

There's something in the way Poe says it that ought to make whatever he's driving at obvious, but for the life of him Finn can't find the connection. Two solid months have passed. At this point Starkiller's remains--broken fragments and dust he suspects--are likely caught in the orbit of a nearby system. How Poe expects them to find anything is beyond him.

He says at much. Poe meets his eye.

It's not the playful look Finn is used to--the one that often makes him blush--Poe's expression serious in a way Finn hasn't seen since... Well, since Finn hauled Poe out of an interrogation chair, actually.

"It's a long shot," Poe admits, "but General Organa wants us to retrieve Han Solo's remains."

That stops Finn short, his breath catching. He doesn't remember doing so, but at some point he must have sat, because when he blinks he finds himself staring across at Poe from one of the shuttle's benches, his vision blurry with unshed tears.

"Poe," he says, his throat tight with emotion. He draws a breath before continuing.

"There were over twenty-thousand stormtroopers alone stationed on Starkiller. At least half again as many officers and technicians. Most of their bodies would have disintegrated during the initial explosion. Those that didn't are likely floating in free-space. If--and that's a big if--Han Solo's body is intact, how the hell are we going to find it?"

His words echo inside his head, a distant monotone more suited to an instructional holovid than the topic at hand. A distant part of him registers this as shock, but knowing as much does nothing to displace the hollow ringing in his ears.

He still remembers the funeral, General Organa lighting an empty pyre in a symbolic gesture that laid Han Solo to rest. He remembers mourning. Allowed his grief for perhaps the first time in his life, he stood at Poe's side, his spine newly knit, and shed tears for a man he would have liked to have called a friend.

"As I said, it's a long shot, but General Organa seems to think we'll find him, so..."

Finn offers a nod. He has a rough idea of what Poe's trying to say. General Organa is a Force user, and if anyone knows anything about the way the universe works it's her.

Still, a long minute passes before he's capable of rising to his feet.

"I can adjust the scanners to search for organic matter," he says, his words once again ringing in monotone. Across from him, Poe rises to his feet. He steps forward, his hand coming automatically to Finn's shoulder.

"I can get someone else to come if..."

"No," Finn says before Poe can finish. The swell of Poe's Adam's apple rises and falls. Finn mimics the gesture.

"I'm coming," he says, the words as much for himself as they are for Poe.

~*~

 

1200

"Wait, he did what?"

He's heard enough of Poe's stories to know to take them with a grain of salt. He knows, too, that Poe hasn't met Han Solo--not directly anyway--and he very much doubts the story came from General Organa. Maybe Poe's parents--they both knew him--but even then Poe tends to embellish. That doesn't stop Finn from listening attentively, as caught in the narrative as he is the storyteller. Poe flashes him a smile. They've got another hour in hyperspace, time enough to continue steadfastly ignoring the purpose of their mission.

"To be fair, they'd already fallen in love, so having her agree to marry some random prince, even if it was political, didn't exactly sit well."

"Still," Finn says. "That doesn't exactly warrant a kidnapping."

Poe shoots him a grin. "It's hardly the stupidest thing someone's done for love," he tells him.

Normally Finn would take Poe's word for it. After all, the First Order wasn't exactly big on relationships, falling in love a sure-fired way to get yourself reconditioned. But there's something in the way that Poe says it that draws Finn's attention, Finn letting a wide smile spread over his face.

"Go on then, what's the stupidest thing you've done for love?" he asks.

Poe shoots him a look. It's his _I'm glad you asked but I also really wish you hadn't_ look. Finn's seen it a few times. It usually results in one of Poe's better stories. This time, however, Poe shakes his head.

"Believe it or not, I don't have one," he says. Finn's pretty sure he's lying. "But my dad once got into a fist fight with a wookie while defending my mother's honour. He lost, but I guess it was the thought that counted because a month later they were married."

He's smiling as he tells the story, fond nostalgia colouring his features. Finn takes a moment to appreciate it. He has nothing to compare it to, but he likes the way it settles around him, warmth accompanying Poe's words.

"How exactly does a wookie offend someone's honour?" he still asks.

"He didn't," Poe replies. "My dad mistranslated. He was always shit at languages."

They both laugh at that, Finn almost able to convince himself they were back home, seated across from one another in Poe's room, laughter filling the space between them. Those were Finn's fond memories, the kind that he thought might someday cement as nostalgia.

"I must be shit at languages too," Finn admits. "I still can't understand a word out of Chewbacca's mouth.

Poe laughs at that too, but then Poe laughs at a lot of things Finn says, like Finn is honest-to-Jedi hilarious. If he wasn't so flattered, Finn might think to be annoyed. Instead he shoots Poe a mock glare, somewhat taken aback when Poe's expression turns serious.

"What was he like?" he asks. It takes Finn several seconds to figure out who he means.

"Han Solo?" he still asks, earning a brief nod. Finn considers. "Brash," he decides, because that seems the closest approximation. "I don't think he liked me very much. He kept calling me kid."

It's all a blur now: rescuing Poe; stealing the TIE; crashing the TIE; meeting Rey. He's gone over the narrative a dozen times, and yet the memories come out of order, a jumble of light and sound distorted by heightened emotions that still keep him up at nights. Meeting Han Solo was... terrifying. Finding rathtars on his ship... somehow worse. The experience didn't get any better and yet...

"He saved my life. Mine and Rey's. Without him..."

What else is there for him to say? Han Solo was... larger than life, but for all of his bravado he was a good man, someone who helped them in their hour of need, someone who stood up and fought for what was right, and, at the time, that was more than Finn was ready to do.

"Yeah," Poe says, quietly ducking his head.

 _Yeah_ , Finn thinks, staring now at the chronometer on the console, their remaining hour in hyperspace now down to mere minutes. So much for steadfastly ignoring the purpose of their mission.

~*~

 

1300

The debris field is immense. Finn's not sure he's ever seen one so big. They're right on top of where Starkiller exploded, nothing left at its epicentre to suggest the planet was ever there. In its place is a wide field of detritus. It stretches out in every direction. Anyone who didn't know Starkiller's history might mistake it for a densely packed asteroid field. Finn knows better.

"This is going to take a while," Poe says, staring out the observation port at Starkiller's remains.

That, Finn thinks, is a serious understatement.

"I think we need to map the area, break it into quadrants," he suggests.

"We can try," Poe says, initiating the long range scanners. Neither of them mention how much easier this would be with BB-8, the shuttle not equipped to accommodate an astromech droid.

The long range scanners aren't detailed enough for a complete picture, but they do manage to get a rough estimate of the field's size. It's bigger than Finn first estimated, spread out over tens of thousands of kilometers.

As the data comes in Poe projects it onto the view screen, until eventually they have a three-dimensional map of Starkiller's remains, a near perfect circle travelling outward from Starkiller's original position. Finn divides the map into four quadrants, and then zooms in on the first.

"I think we can start by isolating debris by size," he says.

They'll have to get in closer to do bioscans, but given the alternative it seems like a reasonably doable plan. Poe, who's still staring at the map like he can't quite figure something out, grunts his agreement.

"Commencing sector one sweep," Finn says into the log.

"Hold on," Poe says after a moment. He's still staring at the map. Reaching up, he manipulates it so that the third quadrant comes into view, Poe zooming in on a single object.

"What does this look like to you?" he asks.

Whatever it is, it's pretty far out. If it originated with Starkiller then it's had a few good weeks to drift to the outer edge of the debris field. Finn narrows his gaze.

"Is that a..."

"Ion signature," Poe confirms.

Finn runs a thumb along the gunner controls. "So we've got scavengers," he says.

"Maybe," Poe replies, though he sounds thoroughly distracted.

Scavengers, Finn knows, aren't interested in bodies. If what they're seeing is a scavenger ship--though certainly it looks too small for that--then they're interested in resources: scrap metal and intact fuel clusters. More likely, though, what they're seeing is part of Starkiller's propulsion system.

"We can ignore it," Finn says. "If someone is scavenging the debris field, they're not exactly going to stay in one place."

"Maybe," Poe says again. Finn waits a beat.

"Or we could go check it out," he says, already re-plotting their course. Poe shoots him a wide grin.

~*~

 

1500

"That," Finn states, "is not a scavenger ship."

Poe navigates them a little closer, tricky given the density of the debris field. They're still not close enough for visual confirmation, but it's showing up just fine on the short range scanners. Whatever it is, it's not a ship. Finn doesn't think it's debris either.

It's almost perfectly spherical, for one thing, and with the ion signature coming off of it, he's pretty sure it has thrusters, even if the thing does look like it's out of juice. Something ugly curls in his gut.

"Escape pod, maybe?" Poe says, reading Finn's mind. Finn runs a quick tally.

"Sixty three days since the explosion. Pods have a ninety day air supply. Same for food stores, and there's a water reclamation system on board."

Poe shoots him a look.

"You're not suggesting..." Finn offers a shrug. Their bioscans aren't picking up anything, but then First Order pods are shielded, nothing they have on board likely to penetrate the hull. 

Poe shakes his head. "Ion drive's gonna last longer than ninety days, and this thing's practically drifting. Never mind that it should have an active comm relay. If someone was inside, they would have called for help."

It takes Finn several seconds to grasp what Poe's driving at, but of course Poe would expect the pod to have an active comm relay, personnel retrieval practically a Resistance mandate. Finn almost regrets having to burst his bubble.

"Pods aren't equipped with comm relays, and the thrusters could have been damaged at jettison."

They're in visual range now, and sure enough it's a First Order escape pod. It's slowly rotating, inertia carrying it through empty space.

"Okay, so there's a chance we've got a First Order officer, maybe a stormtrooper on board?" Poe asks.

"An officer or a technician," Finn tells him. "Stormtroopers don't have access."

Stormtroopers, he doesn't say, are expected to go down with the ship.

He also doesn't mention what is now a growing suspicion. He's seen enough of the debris field to know it's comprised mainly of rock and twisted metal, nothing organic, the force of the explosion likely turning organic matter to ash. Even without looking he knows they're not going to find any bodies. General Organa, he suspects, knew as much.

"What exactly were General Organa's orders? Her exact words," Finn asks.

Poe's eyes grow wide. "You don't seriously think..."

The unspoken hangs between them, Finn's gaze unwavering as he waits for Poe's reply. What is it Rey likes to say? Never underestimate the power of the Force? Finn gives Poe a pointed look.

"She asked me to find her husband, dead or alive."

Finn thought as much.

~*~

 

1530

The pod's too big to bring on board, so Poe suggests docking with it, a near impossible feat, especially given that the pod's still spinning--never mind that it's surrounded by Starkiller debris--but if anyone can pull it off, it's Poe, so Finn's not about to point out the obvious.

Still, the Resistance shuttle uses a drogue and probe system whereas the First Order systems are all androgynous. If they're not careful, they'll end up punching a hole in the side of the pod, and probably decompress their shuttle in the process. Standing now at the back of the shuttle, Finn watches their approach through the hatch viewport and tries not to wince.

"A little to the left," Finn says when they're close enough. From back here, he can hear the shuttle's thrusters, the pod drifting a little to the right, now perfectly centred inside the viewport. Finn braces for impact.

The shuttle jolts slightly beneath him, but aside from that the only indication they've made contact is a dull thud followed by the hiss of repressurization. Finn's gaze drifts to the pressure seal. It's still showing as red.

"Hold on," Poe says from the cockpit. The shuttle lurches a second time, the pressure seal turning green. Finn release a breath.

"We're good," he says, but Poe's already making his way to the back of the shuttle, rubber mallet in hand.

"Cocky," Finn tells him. Poe shoots him a grin.

Manually releasing the hatch takes their combined strength--the mismatched seal means they can't do it automatically. When it finally catches, Poe shoots him a smile, this one triumphant. Finn rolls his eyes even as he stifles a grin.

As soon as it's open he steps back, blaster drawn while he gives Poe room to slam the mallet against the pod's outer hatch. The sound of it carries into the shuttle, so loud it rings in Finn's ears. Poe cocks his head and listens. There's no answer. He brings down the mallet a second time, and then shoots Finn a look.

Finn knows, realistically, there's a good chance the pod is empty, but he can't bring himself to relax. He catches Poe's eye, Poe offering a brief nod before setting aside the mallet in favour of affixing a mag-disruptor. The disruptor pulses once before it clicks into place, the seal on the pod releasing. Finn raises his blaster and waits while Poe opens the hatch.

Nothing happens.

The pod's built for more than one person, and while it's by no means large, it is big enough they can't see the entire interior from the airlock. That means going in blind, something Finn is loath to do. He hands Poe his blaster.

Or tries to, Poe thrusting it back into his hands.

"You're the better shot," he says, a half whisper that cuts off any argument Finn might have made. He hates it when Poe is right.

"I swear, if you get shot..."

The thought sits heavy in his gut, but Poe merely smirks, a lopsided grin that does nothing to ease Finn's apprehension.

It's a straight drop down and Poe makes it without using the ladder, his boots slamming against the ground. The gravitation field is working, anyway, which is something Finn supposes. Watching from above, Finn doesn't miss the slight stiffening of Poe's shoulders, or the way he raises his hands.

Son of a bantha.

In hindsight, it's a dumb thing to do, but Finn's not exactly operating on hindsight. Right now his sole concern is Poe, Finn vaulting into the pod, his blaster raised before he fully processes what he's seeing.

"Whoa, easy," Finn says when he does, his blaster falling to his side. There, propped against the far wall, looking paler than any human ought to, is Han Kriffing Solo.

The blaster in Solo's hand wavers. He cocks his head, wide smile spreading across his features as comprehension dawns.

"Well, if it isn't Big Deal," he says.

Finn swallows against the lump in his throat.

There's about a thousand things he could say at this point, but all of them remain struck in his throat, Finn still desperately trying to process what he's seeing. Aside from maybe a bit of weight loss and a definite need for a sonic, Han looks no different than he did that day on Starkiller. He's holding one of his arms close to his body, the scent of bacta overwhelmed only by the stink of heady perspiration and lingering excrement.

"As touching as this reunion is, you think maybe we could get out of here?" Han says, breaking the awkward silence. Finn blinks. At his side, Poe springs into action.

"Someone must be watching out for you," Poe says, Finn still too numb to move. "How are you even alive?"

He reaches Han's side at about the same time as Finn gets over his shock. Together they help Han to his feet, Han's features twisting with pain.

"I'm harder to kill than most," Han says, wavering a little now that he's standing. Finn catches his eye, well aware that a floodgate of emotion is threatening to spill over. Han lifts his good arm and sets it on Finn's shoulder. He offers a squeeze.

"It's alright, kid, you did good," Han tells him.

"I saw you fall," Finn tells him. Han chuckles, or tries to, a new wave of pain passing over his features.

"Ran out of numb-spray," he explains. Finn gives him a pointed look. Han shakes his head, but relents. "Missed the heart." Han shrugs. "And the good thing about lightsabers? They cauterize."

They've made it across the pod, Poe on one side, Finn on the other. Han glances up the ladder, his mouth pressing into a thin line. This is what they should be concentrating on, but Finn still needs answers.

"I saw you fall," he says again, the horror of the moment replaying in his mind. Unbidden, his thoughts drift to Rey.

"Yeah, I fell," Han says. Finn sends Poe up the ladder. "Caught the edge of something and pulled myself to safety. Figured by that point you lot were gone, so I went looking for alternative transportation. Not a bad setup, this thing. Food, water, oxygen, medical supplies. Wouldn't have minded an earlier rescue, mind you, but..."

He trails off, busy climbing now, Finn at his back, supporting his weight as best he can while Poe guides him from above. They get him into the shuttle with minimal effort, Finn still half convinced this is some sort of dream. Maybe he's fallen asleep at the console. Maybe Poe hasn't had the heart to wake him. The idea of Han surviving--of him being alive--is almost too much to process.

And yet here he is, stinking worse than a cargo hold full of rathtar--which, thanks to Han, Finn now has as a frame of reference.

"You got this?" Poe asks when they emerge into the shuttle. He seals the airlock behind them. Finn nods. Poe's gaze slides from him to Han and then back again, open wonder mixed with incredulity. Finn knows exactly how he feels.

"Come on," Finn says, helping Han onto one of the benches.

He means to move aside, to gather the medkit--numbing spray at the very least--but before he can Han grabs his arm, his expression serious when Finn glances over.

"Where's my ship?" he asks, the gruffness of his voice belied by the desperation in his eyes.

"That's what you're worried about?" Finn asks, shaking his head. "Relax, Rey has it."

"Rey, huh. Better her than someone else, I guess. She got Chewie, too?" Finn nods.

It quiets Han enough that he settles back, releasing Finn's arm in the process. Finn retrieves the medkit, and then returns to Han's side. The shuttle sways slightly beneath them, Poe uncoupling from the escape pod.

"I thought you were dead," Finn says, gesturing to Han's shoulder. Slowly, without moving his arm, Han peels back his shirt to reveal a gaping hole sitting just below his ribcage. Another, Finn knows, likely protrudes from his back.

"Can't tell if he missed on purpose or he's just got bad aim," Han says. Finn shoots him a look.

"He wanted to kill you," Finn says.

Han chuckles at that. "Should have tried harder."

Finn shakes his head. He sets the kit on the bench at Han's side and fumbles inside it for fresh bacta and numbing spray.

"How is she?" Han asks while Finn works. Finn deflates.

"She sent us to retrieve you, dead or alive, so I'm guessing she..." Finn doesn't get the rest out, a wide smile spreading over Han's face.

"That's my girl. I knew she'd hear me eventually."

The smile lingers as Finn peels fabric from the wounds, the bacta having done a good job of keeping it clean, though he doubts the thing will ever heal. Han essentially has a cauterized hole running diagonally through his torso. How it missed his organs Finn can't begin to guess. As though sensing his thoughts, Han offers a wink.

"Told you it wasn't a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. Universe likes me, kid." He pauses then, glancing briefly from Finn to the front of the shuttle, where Poe is preparing to bring them into hyperspace.

"Where's your girlfriend?" he asks. It takes Finn several moments to figure out who he means.

"Rey's not my girlfriend," he says. "And she's training with Luke."

That gets Han's attention, his gaze swivelling back, eyes growing wide.

"You found him?"

Finn nods. "Rey did, yeah. And now she's training to be a Jedi."

Han shakes his head at that. He still looks worse for wear, but the numbing spray is obviously working, some of the colour returning to his cheeks. Han glances again to the front of the shuttle.

"So who's the flyboy?" he asks. Finn ducks his head, fond smile spreading into his cheeks as he pictures Poe responding to the moniker.

"That's Poe," he says, trying and failing to keep his tone even. Han shoots him a knowing glance.

"Oh, Poe is it," Han says, smiling. Heat stains Finn's cheeks. He didn't mean...

"It's not..."

Han is outright laughing at him now, like he didn't just spend two months trapped inside an escape pod, like someone didn't skewer him with a lightsaber. No wonder the man is a legend, Finn thinks, shaking his head.

"Look, kid, I ain't gonna tell you how to live your life, but if you want my advice, life's too short for denial. You want something, go after it. And then hold on tight, cause it don't take much to lose it."

Finn doesn't miss the wistfulness of his tone, or the way his gaze grows a little distant. It doesn't take a genius to know he's no longer talking about Poe. Finn offers him a sympathetic smile.

"Oh, come off it," Han says, some of his earlier gruffness returning.

"Hey, you want me to take your advice, at least listen to mine."

He waits for Han's reluctant nod, amused smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Go on, kid," he says. Finn meets his eye.

"It's not too late. Hell, she sent us out looking for you. That's gotta mean something."

The smile Han shoots him is as amused as it is surprised. He huffs a laugh, features still guarded, but Finn can see the moment he makes a decision.

"You know something, kid, you might be right."

Finn doesn't ask if he's going to stick around long enough to find out. He also doesn't offer anything more in the way of advice. Han will do what Han's going to do, and Finn already has enough on his plate. Unbidden, his gaze drifts to the front of the shuttle, where Poe is very obviously trying not to listen, a pilot no longer needed now that they're in hyperspace.

There's a good chance, he thinks, Han has a point.

~*~

 

0100

Leia's waiting for them on the flight deck. She watches them disembark, her gaze locked on Han as Finn and Poe guide him down the ramp. In place of expected surprise, Finn spots only fond exasperation.

"Miss me?" Han says when they reach the deck. Leia shakes her head.

"You have a lot of nerve," she tells him.

"Nerve? For what? Being alive?" he asks, incredulous. This, Finn thinks, is probably a good time for him and Poe to slip away.

Leia, if she notices them leaving--and Finn suspects she does--doesn't say anything, her glare still trained on Han. Finn doesn't envy him for anything, but then, he suspects this will work itself out. Things have a way of doing so.

It's the thought more than anything that gives him the courage to reach down, Finn interlacing his hand with Poe's as they make their way towards the open hangar that leads into the base. Poe, to give him credit, stumbles only briefly before he recovers, his grip on Finn's hand immediately tightening. Glancing over his shoulder, Finn offers him a soft smile.

"Think they'll work it out?" he asks.

"If he can survive getting run through with a lightsaber, I'd say anything is possible."

He pauses then, glancing down at their interlocked hands before he again meets Finn's gaze.

"You know, there are rumours going around about us," he says. Finn nods.

"I've heard."

"Shame they're only rumours," Poe says, his smile growing sly. Trust Poe to beat him to the punch.

Finn doesn't answer right away, not until they're back inside the base, Finn guiding them into an empty alcove, momentarily displaced as he remembers this is how they met. Poe, undoubtedly on the same page, shoots him the same devious smirk. Finn can't help but laugh.

"We're going to do this," Finn says, stealing Poe's line. Poe, in lieu of laughing, drags Finn in for a kiss. Finn can't find it in him to complain.

~*~


End file.
